Road Trip
by Jennifer Collins
Summary: Adam goes to Nashville to bring Tanya back home to Angel Grove. Sequel to Just Like Old Times.
1. Chapter 1: Nashville

Tanya was bustling around the living room area of her almost empty Nashville apartment, her cell phone sitting on a table on speaker. "Yeah, Kat. I'm almost finished packing," she was saying to her friend. "Almost."

She could practically hear the other girl rolling her eyes through the phone. "So are you leaving right after your gig tonight, or tomorrow morning?"

"Tomorrow morning," she answered as she folded some clothes on the table and stuffed them into an overnight bag.

"Good, make sure you both get plenty of rest," Kat said and this time it was Tanya's turn to roll her eyes.

"Plus, Adam says he wants to do Nashville stuff while he's here," she said with a sigh. "I don't even know what that means."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something fun," her friend encouraged.

"Actually, there is one thing I'm worried about…." Tanya said.

"What's that?"

"My set that I have to play at the club tonight."

Kat was silent for a moment. "Well, I know you don't really get nervous before a performance so I wonder if this has anything to do with a certain handsome mutual friend that all your songs are about?"

Tanya picked the phone up off the table and sat down on the couch, holding it up to her face. "I guess I just don't want to embarrass him, or catch him off guard or anything. But I can't not sing songs from the album, right?"

"Honey, I think you'd be really naïve to think that that boy has never heard every single one of those songs already. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope you're right." She was interrupted from her thoughts by a knock at the door. "Hold on, Kat. Someone's here."

She made her way over to the door, opening it cautiously as she peered into the hall. "Adam!" she squealed in surprise, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hey, Tanya," he said with his charming, boyish smile bright on his face as he hugged her tightly.

"Say hi to Kat," she said, nudging the door closed without letting go of him.

"Hi Adam," Kat's voice said from the phone. "I'll let you two get going. Hope you guys have a nice trip, and drive carefully!"

"Thanks, Kat," he called before Tanya pressed the button to end the call.

"So, what's up, I thought you were going to call me when your plane landed."

He shrugged. "I just took a taxi. Figured you were still busy packing your things."

Tanya's brow furrowed. "Why does everyone just assume I'm not packed yet?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Mostly," she said defensively.

He laughed, making a move to embrace her again. "Man, I missed you," he said.

"I missed you too," she murmured, closing her eyes as she settled into his arms. "So much."

He took a look around at the empty space. "You had a nice place here," he commented.

She nodded. "I'll give you a tour, but you should've seen it when it was not so sad looking."

"Yeah, I should've," he said idly, following her as she pointed out her bedroom, showed him where the bathroom was and took him around the kitchen area.

She squeezed his hand. "Most of the furniture isn't mine, but I did have my bed and my desk shipped to Angel Grove."

"That's okay. Wait until you see the couch Rocky picked out."

She smiled. "I can't wait."

"Guess we should start loading your car," he said, gesturing to the boxes that were stacked against a wall.

She moved to help him carry the boxes, smiling when she stepped outside and felt the sun on her face. "There isn't too much more," she said. "I basically just have to finish packing my clothes and makeup and stuff. And there's a couple of lamps I'm bringing back."

He took the boxes from her, packing them neatly in her trunk and in the back seat. "Are we going to fit everything?"

"Yeah." She placed a hand on his arm. "Thanks for doing this."

He smiled. "Anytime. Besides, it'll be a fun trip."

She grinned. "I don't know. Thirty hours in a car with me. Think you can handle it?"

"Hey, we've been through way worse than this," he said. "Besides, I think I've been pretty good at handling you all these years. Maybe you just buy me a real Tennessee dinner tonight and we'll call it even," he joked as they walked back inside her apartment.

"Listen, Adam. There's something you should know about my…um…. some of my songs from this album…" She started, staring down at her shoes.

He placed a hand under her chin and picked her head up. "They're about me?" He asked, a little shyly.

She nodded. "How did you know?"

"Um, I mean… I was there…. for all that stuff you sing about," he said awkwardly. "Besides, isn't your album called Knight In Shiny Green Armor? You know that's not very subtle," he added with a kind smile.

She let out a breath. "Are you mad?"

"No! Why would I be mad? There's not any songs about how much you hate me and how horrible of a person I am, right?"

She smiled. "Definitely not."

"Look, I get it. You're an artist. You write about what's real to you. I guess I'm just really glad that after all these years, I'm the thing you want to sing about," he said, blushing slightly.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheeks flushing. "You're really incredible, you know that?"

He hugged her back. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah." She dug her keys out of her pocket and walked back to her jeep with him. "It's not that far," she told him as she started the ignition.

She pointed out some notable places to him as they drove and named some of the bars and clubs that she'd sang in before she pulled up to a trendy looking place with the name "Louie's" scrawled in neon lights.

"Hi, Louie," she said brightly as they entered through the back.

"Hey, Tanya!" a portly man greeted jovially. "Your room's all set if you wanna get all powdered up or somethin."

She smiled. "Louie, this is my friend, Adam. Take good care of him, okay?"

"Pleasure," Louie said, shaking Adam's hand enthusiastically. "Come on, I'll show ya the best seat in the house."

She kissed Adam's cheek before Louie ushered him away and headed to the little space that Louie's used as the green room, checking herself in the mirror and taking a deep breath before heading to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, a real treat for y'all tonight. Our own Tanya Sloan!"

She walked onto the stage to energetic applause and waved both her hands at the crowd before holding them to her chest in an expression of gratitude. "I want to start with something different tonight," she said into the microphone. "This is a song I wrote for my closest friends when I was in high school. It's called Stick Together."

Tanya nodded to the lead guitarist and he started strumming out the chords.

She belted the words to her first song, swinging her hips to the beat and everyone in the club was clapping and dancing along to her happy tune.

She caught Adam's gaze near the end of the song, finding him sitting alone at a table towards the front, mouthing the words along with her. She winked at him and he grinned, clapping loudly when she finished.

"This next one is off the album. It's called Missing You More." The opening chords to her emotional track started and she found she couldn't take her eyes away from Adam's.

He was sitting at the table with his chin in his hand, gazing up at her with a dreamy and intent expression on his face as he took in her words about longing for a first love. A lock of hair had fallen in his eyes and she wished she could brush it back for him with her hand.

Having Adam here, live at one of her shows and watching her so carefully and attentively was a whole new experience for her. It was an intense feeling, and in some ways Tanya felt more intimate with him in that moment, watching him watch her in front of everyone in the bright stage lights as she bared her feelings about him to total strangers than she had when she'd been naked underneath the covers with him a couple of weeks prior.

Suddenly her set ended and the lights dimmed and the room broke out into thunderous applause.

"Thank you," she said, genuinely touched at the heartfelt reaction as she bowed low.

Adam was waiting for her in the back when she got off the stage, greeting her with a warm hug. "You were amazing," he said sincerely.

"Thanks," she said, feeling a little hot as she leaned into his embrace.

"I mean it," he told her. "Man, I thought you were talented back in high school, but your voice…. your style…. "

She blushed fiercely.

"You've really matured in the past few years," he said quietly. "I can totally see why they love you so much."

"That's sweet," she said, reaching up to finally brush the lock of hair back from his eyes. "Now, come on. Let me buy you your first pulled pork sandwich."

She led him to a seat at the bar near where the band was sitting and the bartender asked for their order.

"Are you drinking tonight?" she asked over her shoulder in a whisper. "I know you don't really like alcohol…"

The bartender handed him a glass of Tennessee whiskey and a plate with the pulled pork and she frowned as she looked at it, knowing that he was very particular about what he put into his body.

Adam shrugged. "Probably just one since we're leaving so early?"

She nodded and he tapped his whiskey to her wine. "Cheers."

A few people came over to chat and Tanya smiled brightly, shaking hands and signing autographs and leaning into Adam instinctively when he wrapped a slightly possessive arm around her waist. She silently hoped that he would hold her all night, and he did, smiling politely at all of her admirers and sipping his drink in between.

After they finished their barbecue, she led him outside and they were still talking and laughing loudly as they adjusted to the change in atmosphere.

"So what else do you do in Nashville?" Adam wondered. "Other than entertain the masses with your angel-like qualities?"

"Stop!" she giggled, swatting his arm playfully. "Let's go for a walk around town, see if there are any street musicians out tonight."

He followed her obediently and they were pleased to see that the musicians were out in abundance tonight, with Adam marveling at how cool it was to find country on one corner and jazz on another.

He pulled her into him, dancing in the middle of the street and her whole face brightened, her eyes sparkling as he twirled and spun her around in the moonlight.

He placed a few bills in the bands' open guitar case before they walked off. "This has been fun."

"It sure has," she agreed, resting her head against him and taking his hand as he slung an arm around her shoulder.

They walked quietly for awhile as they headed back to her car in the back of Louie's.

"You're going to miss this place, aren't you?" Adam asked softly.

She thought for a moment. "I'm going to miss things about this place. But it doesn't compare to the things I was missing the most," she said, squeezing his hand.

He ducked into her car, reaching over and placing a hand on her knee as she drove back to her apartment.

"So, I would've given you the bed, but I've already had it shipped home," she said as they clamored lazily through the door. "You can sleep on the couch, if you want. Or I can get some sleeping bags and blankets and we can camp out on the floor?"

He shrugged. "I guess sleeping bags it is, then."

"Are you sure? Before a thirty hour car drive?"

He nodded. "It's fine."

She smiled. "Okay." She disappeared into her bedroom and returned a moment later, her arms overflowing with blankets and pillows that she neatly arranged on the floor.

He settled down, patting the space next to him. "This is way more comfortable than you think it is," he insisted.

She laid her head down in the pillows, turning to face him. "Should I set an alarm for like 5am or so? You wanted to leave by six, right?"

"Nah, you don't have to. We'll just leave when we wake up."

She smiled. "Okay," she said softly, reaching for his hand.

He took her fingers in his, raising her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles softly before she pulled the cord on the lamp on the floor beside them and the room flooded into darkness


	2. Chapter 2: On The Road

"Why don't you let me drive first?" Adam asked as they made their way to her jeep just as dawn was approaching.

She looked at him as she closed the trunk one final time. "You sure?"

"Yeah. You drove me around the whole week during the wedding," he said. "It's only fair."

She smiled, tossing him the keys as she climbed into the passenger side.

"Top up or down?" he asked as he adjusted his seat.

"Top down!" They said together and then laughed.

Tanya breathed in the early morning air as Adam took off down the highway, raising her arms up in excitement at the thought of thirty hours and two-thousand miles alone with him.

"Man, this thing drives like a dream," he commented.

"Did you ever get your car yet?" Tanya asked, mentally running through their phone conversations over the past two weeks to recall if he'd mentioned anything about it.

"Yeah! I just picked it up yesterday. It's a truck. Chevy. That thing's a monster!" He said, grinning broadly.

She laughed as her hair blew over her face in the wind. "What color is it?"

"Black."

"Of course."

"Of course," he teased. "Just like you have your little yellow jeep. I know this isn't the same one you had in high school, but it sure could be."

"And what's wrong with that? I know what I like!"

He patted her knee. "We all know that."

She stuck her tongue out at him, reaching into the visor to pull out her sunglasses. "Do you want yours?" she asked.

He nodded, gesturing into the back seat. "They're in the front pocket of my bag."

She rummaged for a moment before handing him his sunglasses, smiling to herself when he put them on and thinking how cute he looked in them. "You're adorable," she said out loud.

He blushed. "What? No! You're adorable."

She smiled again, turning the knob on the radio to have something to do before leaning back in her seat.

He wrinkled his nose at the country station.

"What?" She asked with another laugh. "Are you tired of country already?"

He shrugged. "It's up to you."

She reached into her pocket for her ipod and put it on shuffle when the car's computer recognized and synced to the device.

She didn't realize that she'd been singing along to the familiar tune until he turned to her with that boyish smile of his. "Sorry," she muttered, looking out the window on her side.

"No, don't stop," he urged. "Keep singing."

"Alright, but this isn't a one woman show, you know. You have to sing too."

"I don't know the words."

"Well, we'll just find something ya do know," she said, pressing the arrow on her ipod.

She stopped on a Journey song. "You have to know this one."

He sang the opening words "Just a small town girl living in a loooonely woooorld" dramatically and she laughed, clapping her hands and dancing in her seat.

"She took a midnight train going anyyyyyywhereee," she crooned.

His smile grew wider as he got into the game and before long they were belting the chorus of "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of their lungs, laughing and giggling together.

"You know, you're not so bad yourself," she said sincerely when the song ended and their laughing fit subsided.

He shook his head. "I'm no star like you."

"Oh, stop," she said, waving away his words and straightening up in her seat as they crossed the Mississippi state line.

They drove in comfortable companionship, telling each other stories about their lives since they'd both moved on from Angel Grove, sometimes singing wildly to whatever was playing on the radio and sometimes riding in easy silence.

She leaned her head against the headrest, turning to face him and absent mindedly studying him as he drove. He put the top back up when it started to get a little chilly and she took the opportunity to lean closer to him. She decided that she liked him driving her car and smiled secretly to herself, pulling out a notebook and pen from her bag.

"Whatcha got there?" Adam wondered after a few minutes.

"Hmmm? Oh, nothing. Just writing things down, like the way the sky looks, the way the air smells. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a song later."

He smiled. "Do you always do that?"

She nodded, chewing on her pen cap. "Yeah. Whenever it feels right."

He thought for a moment as she flipped through pages and pages of the book, all scrawled with her bubbly handwriting. "Did you write about the wedding?"

"I mean, not the wedding specifically, but what it felt like for us all to be back together like that, yeah." She gazed out the window before penning something furiously in her book.

He waited until she was finished writing before he spoke again. "Did you write anything after we….?" His voice trailed off as he felt her stiffen beside him.

"You did," he said quietly.

She closed the book and replaced her pen cap silently, her eyes avoiding his.

"Can I see it?"

"What? No!" She shouted, holding the book close to her chest.

"Come on, if it's about me then I think I deserve to know," he said, reaching across the seat.

"Adam, no!" she shouted again, swatting his hand away. "It's personal."

He frowned. "More personal than what we did together?"

She shoved the book back in her bag, zipping it up loudly and quickly.

"Guess I'll just find out about it when you release your next single," he mumbled.

"So it does bother you," she said quietly.

"I didn't say that."

"Well, you kind of hinted at it."

"Tanya…."

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking out the window with her head turned away from him.

They drove on in annoyed silence for awhile until he veered off the highway, pulling over into a deserted parking lot.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "This isn't a stop we planned on our map."

He put the car in park and unbuckled his seat belt, getting out the driver's side and walking over to open the door on her side.

"What are you doing?" She said again as he took her hand and pulled her up.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, putting his arms around her. "I don't want to be a jerk."

She sighed. "You're not a jerk, Adam."

He hugged her tightly and she hugged him back. "I guess I can be a brat sometimes."

He shook his head. "You weren't being a brat. You're right. It's your personal stuff."

She bit her lip. "Can I be honest with you about something?"

"Of course," he murmured into her hair.

She took a deep breath, pulling away just enough to look at him face to face. "That was the first time I did anything like that. Ever."

His eyes widened. "You mean, you never….? Before we…..?"

She shook her head.

"Oh, Tanya." He hugged her harder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to think I was being a baby about it."

He smiled softly. "Wanna know something?"

She nodded.

"That was my first time too."

"Really?!" She squeaked in surprise.

"Really," he repeated.

"Oh," she said quietly, unable to keep a smile from spreading across her face.

He gently kissed her forehead. "Come on. Let's get back on the road for a bit and stop like we planned."

She followed him back to the car, reaching for his hand as he drove back to the highway. She kept her phone in her lap, checking to see where they marked the first stop. "If we keep going until we reach Arkansas we'll be right on track," she told him.

"We're not that far away," he said.

They drove in silence and she turned the radio on, letting someone else croon out the tunes for once as they searched for a place to stop for the night.

They came upon a motel and pulled into the small parking lot. Adam pulled their overnight bags out of the car while Tanya went into the lobby to check in and they found the place was so small that the rooms were right there on the ground floor.

"I hope the room looks better than the office did," Tanya commented as Adam opened the door with a scuffed up room key.

"Oh, this is gross," he said, flicking on the lightswitch in the dingy room.

"Pretty far from five star," she agreed with her hands on her hips. She scanned the room briefly, taking in the peeling wallpaper before noticing out loud, "There's only one bed."

"And it's pretty tiny," Adam added. "Guess we're going to have to get close."

"We better check it for bed bugs," She said with a shiver.

He nodded, moving in place to flip the mattress while she stripped it. "Better check the drawers too," he told her.

She pulled open every drawer, patted down the curtains and inspected the rug before deciding that they would be okay here.

"Hey, what's a road trip without a little adventure?" Adam joked.

She smiled weakly. "I'm going to go take a shower," she said, heading to the tiny closet sized bathroom.

She returned a moment later. "Ugh, no I'm not."

He raised an eyebrow. "That bad, huh?"

She didn't say anything, moving their bags from the floor to the table.

"Well, I guess we'd better turn in then," Adam said.

"You first," Tanya said, gesturing with her hand.

He kicked his shoes off and sat down gingerly on the bed, the mattress springs squeaking the moment he'd put any kind of weight on it. He laid down, resting his head against the pillow. "It's not that bad," he said, reaching out his arm.

She sat down carefully, ducking under the covers and snuggling into him as he wrapped his arm around her in the tiny bed. "Yeah," she said. "We can do this, right?"

He rubbed her back in small, soothing circles. "We can totally do this."

"Do you think the t.v. works?" she asked, grabbing the remote off the wobbly nightstand. She pressed the power button and a blue, staticky light came on the screen before flickering out.

"Guess not," Adam said and they both laughed.


	3. Chapter 3: Sixteen Hours In

"It's my turn to drive!" Tanya announced as they practically ran out of the motel room the next morning.

Adam obediently crawled into the passenger seat, stretching out his legs as far as he could. "Let's look at it this way, the next place we stay tonight can't possibly be as bad, right?"

"Nope. How far along are we?"

He grabbed her phone to check the map. "Around fifteen hundred miles to go," he said. "GPS says it's nineteen more hours."

"We got this! We got this," Tanya cheered, reaching to the dashboard to turn on the radio.

Adam's phone began buzzing in his pocket and he fished it out, glancing at the screen. "It's Rocky," he said.

She gestured to her charger. "Plug it in here," she said, switching the audio to pick up his signal.

"Rocko!" Adam said. "What's up?"

"Hey, guys. How's it goin?"

"We're making good time!" Tanya said. "We're about four hundred miles from Texas."

"And neither one of you has killed the other yet?" Their friend joked.

"Ha-ha, you're so funny," Adam said.

"No, we're actually having a great time," Tanya replied. "Although the place we stayed in last night was atrocious."

"That bad, huh?"

"It really was a dump," Adam said. "What are you up to?"

"Not much. Just finished unpacking all my stuff. This place is really coming along. Hey, Tanya your bed came yesterday," Rocky said.

"It did?"

"Yeah, your parents came by earlier and your dad helped me get it set up for you. You should have no worries at all when you get here."

"Oh, that's so awesome, Rocky. Thank you so much!"

"I'll send you pictures of your room when we hang up so you can make sure it's where you want it."

She smiled. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Anyway, I guess I'd better let you guys focus on the road. I'll see you both soon!"

"Yeah, especially the way she drives," Adam teased.

She swatted his arm.

Rocky laughed. "You kiddos better behave."

Tanya switched back to the radio after he hung up. "I can't believe it's all happening so fast." She turned her head to look at him. "Are you completely moved in too?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We just have to get you all set up and then we're good."

She smiled dreamily. "We're really doing this."

"Yeah, we are," he said, reaching for her hand.

She held onto his hand for as long as she could until she needed both hands on the steering wheel. "Five hours in," she said. "Do you want to stop for lunch?"

"We can. I'm sure there's a diner somewhere around."

She got off at the next exit and pulled onto the service road.

"Right there, down the road," Adam pointed.

She drove to where he'd shown her and parked the car and they walked into what appeared to be a typical diner, with vinyl seats and marble countertops.

He asked the hostess for a booth and she brought them over, handing them a pair of menus.

Tanya slid into the seat across from him and unfolded the menu. "I think I want breakfast for lunch," she said.

"I think I want a milkshake," he replied.

She laughed. "You never want a milkshake."

He shrugged. "Between this and the food we had in Nashville we're going to have to make sure the next hotel has a gym."

She smiled into her menu.

"I'm not kidding."

"I know you're not."

The waitress came and brought over their pancakes and milkshakes and Tanya swirled her straw around in hers before taking a sip. "I still can't believe Rocky found that gorgeous place and we all get to live there. Together!" She said, still smiling.

He smiled back. "You look the happiest I've seen you since the first night back at the Juice Bar."

"I am happy," she said. "But I wasn't really in Nashville."

"Yeah, I could kind of tell," Adam said gently.

"I didn't mean to be out of touch with all of you for so long."

He reached across the table to take both of her hands in his.

"I didn't mean to be out of touch with you," she added quietly.

He tugged her arm up to his face, placing a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist that sent goosebumps up her arm. "We're together now, that's all that matters."

"And we've lasted almost sixteen hours in the car!" She said.

He took a sip from his milkshake and watched her blow bubbles in hers, laughing when a couple of drops landed on her nose.

"Do you think you'll be happy in Angel Grove?" He asked seriously as she pushed a napkin over her face.

"Yeah, I do. I really, really do." She thought for a moment. "I mean, you came back right? And you've been happy there?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it was better than what I was doing. And it's much better now that you're going to be there."

Tanya was almost disappointed when the waitress came back with their check.

Adam tossed some bills on the table and placed a gentle hand at the small of her back as he walked her to the car. "Do you want me to drive for a little while?"

She shook her head. "Nah, I got it."

He climbed into the jeep after her and suggested that it was cool enough to take the top down again.

She agreed, brightening up as the wind whipped through her hair and smiling into the moonlight.

Once again she found it comfortable in the car with him, sometimes talking, sometimes not talking.

A couple of hours in and she noticed him nodding off, realizing that she was getting sleepy too. "Hey, Adam?"

"Hmmm," he murmured.

"I know we said we were going to do ten hours a day, but I'm getting pretty beat. Do you mind if we find some place to settle down?"

"I think that's a good idea," he said, straightening up in his seat and checking her phone. "You can pull over at the exit after this one. There's a big hotel. This one's a chain."

She followed his instructions, arriving at the hotel a few minutes later.

"I'll check in this time," he said and she nodded.

He ran into the lobby and returned in a moment, handing her their room assignment and she drove around to the other side of the building and parked.

They each grabbed their bags and rode up the elevator to the eleventh floor and Tanya's face broke into a smile as she opened the door. "This is already a huge step up," she said.

He agreed, scoping out the space and setting their bags down.

"Okay, now I'm definitely going to shower. Wash away all memories of that icky place," she said with an exaggerated shiver.

He gave her a half-smile, slouching down in one of the beds and reaching to the nightstand for the remote.

He was flipping through the channels when Tanya came out of the shower, dressed in her yellow pajama shorts and a baggy white t-shirt, sitting noisily on the other bed.

"Hey, the t.v. actually works!" she exclaimed.

He nodded, handing her the remote. "Put on whatever you want. I'm gonna hop in. The water okay?"

"Yeah, it's actually really nice." She settled on a popular crime drama, only half-watching as she combed the tangles out of her hair.

Adam emerged from the bathroom in about half the time it had taken her, with a towel around his neck and shoulders.

She frowned as she continued to drag the brush through her long curly hair.

"Here, let me," he said, sitting down on the bed behind her and she looked up at him in surprise.

He took the brush from her, gently moving it through her hair and she closed her eyes. "I think I've always wanted to do this, ever since you started growing it out in high school."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah." He combed her hair for a few more moments and she leaned her head back against his shoulder, wanting to be close to him.

"Adam?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Maybe we should just stay in this bed tonight?"

He looked at her as he set the brush down. "Okay," he said leaning back against the pillows. "It is the better bed."

She lay down next to him and he turned the light off, holding out his arm to her.

She went to him, leaning her head against his chest and wondering silently if he would take it as an invitation for more.

He wrapped his arms around her easily, holding her against him and pressing a soft kiss into her freshly combed hair.

His own hair was still damp from the shower and she breathed in his clean scent, glad that it was mostly him and less generic hotel branded soap.

"Comfy?" he murmured.

"Very," she whispered.

"Good," he said and she could almost hear the smile in his voice.


	4. Chapter 4: Taking A Break

Tanya settled into the passenger seat, stretching her legs out as far as she could and dramatically rubbing her calf.

Adam frowned. "Still sore from the gym?" He asked.

"I guess you're still an intense trainer," she said with a smile and a sigh.

He shook his head. "You can't possibly be that much out of practice," he replied, his face flushing a little as he turned his attention back to the road.

Her smile widened. "I keep active," she said.

"Must be all that dancing," he joked.

"What about you?" She asked. "You must be on a regular schedule to still be able to slip back into it so easily."

She thought for a moment. "What is it like, by the way? Going back?"

He looked at her. "It's exactly the same as you'd remember it."

She studied his face. "It's so easy for you. I don't think I could do it that easily."

"You could. And you would," he said confidently. "It's still who you are. That part doesn't change."

She stared silently out the window for a few moments. "Maybe we'll go back together one day," she mused quietly.

"I'd like that very much," Adam said.

She sighed again, leaning back into her seat. "It's a beautiful day today," she said, rolling down the window. "Great for a long drive. How far along are we?"

"About twelve more hours of driving time. We could be there late tomorrow night if we only stop once."

She smiled. "We could do that. It's been fun so far. I could stay in this car allllllllllll day and night with you."

He smiled back in agreement.

Four hours later and she was fidgeting restlessly in her seat, pressing her body up against the door to find a more comfortable angle. "Get me out of this car!" She whined dramatically.

He swerved suddenly into a turning lane, nearly missing the exit.

"What are you doing?" she asked, almost yelling over the wind.

"Getting you out of this car," Adam answered, looking straight out the windshield as he coasted off the service road and down an unmarked street.

She raised an eyebrow doubtfully as he parked the car on a dirt road, jumping out and following him as he trekked through the trees and into a grassy clearing.

He ran across the field, dropping down and doing a cartwheel in the grass and she grinned broadly as she got the idea.

She whooped loudly as she followed, tumbling after him and laughing as she ran at top speed through the open area.

He was laughing too as he completed a back flip and she called "I'll race you!" even though she wasn't sure where they would race to and knowing that he would probably win anyway.

"Deal!" he shouted back as he chased her.

Tanya almost felt like she was back in high school, goofing off with her friends with the sun on her face and the breeze flowing through her hair. She could feel Adam behind her and she gasped loudly in surprise as he wrapped his strong arms tightly around her waist and lifted her into the air.

She tucked her legs in, giggling uncontrollably as he swung her around effortlessly.

She was dizzy for a moment when he set her back down, clumsily trying to get her bearings and she reached for him, grabbing at his arms as she tried to steady herself, but he was just as unsteady as she was and they tumbled to the ground.

She landed on her bottom, her legs tangled with Adam's as he put his hands out trying to break his fall. She leaned back into the grass as he breathlessly asked if she was okay and she nodded. "You?" she asked, once she'd caught her breath.

He nodded back, leaning over her as she stretched out, the hem of her shirt rising up and exposing her stomach. He seized the opportunity to get back at her for knocking him over, reaching out and tickling her waist playfully and she squealed, pushing her hands against his chest.

Adam didn't let up, moving his hand to tease her belly and making her squirm, pushing up against him with her whole body as she laughed.

She tugged him off balance and he fell on top of her, his body pressed against hers and she tilted her head back to look up at him, realizing that his face was very close to hers.

He leaned his head down and kissed her softly and she kissed back, raising her hands to his hair. They stayed like that for a few moments, kissing passionately in a tangle of limbs in the grass until he reluctantly pulled back. "If we start this now, we might never stop," he whispered.

"Yeah," she agreed, part of her wishing that he wouldn't.

He held out a hand to help her up and she accepted, letting him pull her to a standing position.

"It's going to get dark soon," Adam said. "We should head back to the car."

She fell into step beside him, still holding his hand as they walked through the clearing and back to the trees, following the way they'd come in. "You were right," Tanya said with a bright smile. "That was exactly the break we needed."


	5. Chapter 5: Alone

It was well into the evening when Tanya suggested that they stop somewhere. She was absentmindedly singing to the tune of the song on the radio as Adam checked the phone for the closest hotel.

They checked in quickly and brought their bags up to their room.

"Hey, Tanya….." Adam said in the hallway. "We don't have to stick to a set schedule. Do you want to go out to a movie or something tonight?"

She turned to look at him as they set their bags down, considering his offer. "Actually…. I kind of just wanted to be alone tonight," she said softly.

"What do you mean? We've been alone this entire time…. Oh," he said, his voice trailing off as he caught the soft, wide-eyed expression on her face. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I want to be alone too," he added, swallowing thickly as she closed the door behind them.

He followed her into the room, and she reached for his hand, smiling when he squeezed her fingers in his.

She was grateful to see that there was only one bed this time and the choice had already been made for them. She went over and sat on the mattress, gently patting the space next to her as she looked up at him.

He sat down slowly, and she nudged his leg with hers, unsure of what to do now. "So…. now what?" she asked out loud.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and gently scooped her into his lap. "Just let me hold you for a little bit," he murmured, brushing her hair back from her face.

She eagerly leaned into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Is this what it's like to be on tour with you?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

She thought for a moment. "It's similar, I guess. Different cities every night, never really knowing where you'll end up for the night. Although there's probably a lot more down time than you'd think." She smiled. "I guess you'll have to see for yourself in a couple of months."

He smiled back. "I can't wait," he said.

"You mean, you haven't gotten sick of me yet? Even after twenty something hours in a car?"

"I could never get sick of you, Tanya," he whispered, kissing her softly on her lips.

"It has been a really great time with you," she agreed as she kissed him back.

"Mmmmm," he murmured, deepening the kiss and eagerly slipping his tongue in when she opened her mouth.

She shifted in his lap, leaning forward to kiss along his jaw and down his neck and he moved his hands up her waist and over her bare arms to her shoulders, his fingers combing through her hair and pushing it to one side so he could have easy access to her neck as well.

They continued to kiss heatedly and he continued to play with her hair, twisting it in one hand and gently massaging her scalp with the other. She moved her hands from his waist, pushing his shirt up in search of bare skin and running her fingers along the well toned muscles of his stomach.

She felt him shiver and she leaned further into him, sucking on his neck as she moved her hands up under his shirt.

He took his hands from her hair long enough to reach for the hem, pulling his shirt over his head and she helped him tug it off before lowering her mouth to kiss down his chest.

She could feel his heart beating fast and his warm breath on her face as his breathing grew heavier. He kissed her, hard, his hands moving down to caress her bare legs under the denim of her low cut shorts and he shifted, leaning back into the mattress and gently pulling her on top of him.

"Is this okay?" he asked and she nodded, getting distracted by the taste of the skin over his collar bone as she dipped her tongue into it.

He moved under her to shift her to where he wanted her as she lay on top of him, effectively pressing their bodies together and she straddled his hips as they continued to make out on the bed.

She rocked against him, her mouth finding that soft spot on his neck again as his hands began to wander to the hem of her tank top. He moved his hands over her back and to her front, sliding them slowly up her stomach.

"Tanya," he murmured, kissing the length of her neck and moving his mouth lower as he raised his hands to the cups of her bra.

She shivered as he traced the edge with his fingers. "Do you want me to?" he whispered, raising his head to look her in the eyes, and she nodded wordlessly.

He rolled her onto her back, flipping them so he was on top of her as he unhooked her bra and kissed her deeply, his mouth covering hers.

His strong hands felt good under her clothes, touching all of her most secret places and making her body want more.

He undid the button on her waistband, gazing at her questioningly until she breathlessly asked him not to stop and he slipped his fingers into her shorts, letting out an audible breath as he felt her deepest secret of all.

"Adam," she murmured, his name sounding more like a moan in her throat as she undid his belt buckle to feel him too. "That feels really, really good," she whispered as he continued to touch her intimately.

"Baby," he whispered, "should I get a condom?"

She nodded, sliding his pants down his hips as he fumbled with the foil and helped her out of her shorts.

He kissed her as he rocked against her and this time she really did moan.

"Adam," she breathed, closing her eyes and clutching him tightly.

"Tanya," he murmured. "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered as they rocked together. "So, so much."

It felt way better than the last time they'd made love and before long she thought she might lose control with the way he was moving. He kissed her neck and squeezed her breasts as he loved her and she cried out as she shuddered, feeling him lose control a moment later.


End file.
